RESIDENTS OPPOSE MODULAR HOUSE

She said that she and her family are regretting the move in the wake of the works proceeding on the site.

She said that nobody knows what’s going on there, and that residents have now agreed to raise funds to seek legal advice.

At the meeting, Cllr Grainne McLoughlin said that she received an email from the council saying that the location of the build will be moved mainly because of the flood plain concerns.

It is understood that the forthcoming house has been allocated to a family with young children.

‘ They’re being shoved onto a floodplain with no amenities, up a hill, on a narrow road, in a cold, damp place that will flood, said Nathalie. You wouldn’t put your worst enemy in there.’

‘I don’t understand why nobody came near us but suddenly came in and bulldozed the site. Why the secrecy?’ she said.

In a letter to Wicklow County Council, Delgany residents Clive and Eithne Dalby outlined a number of concerns about the development, which they said ‘is wreaking havoc upon a very scenic part of the Delgany Heritage Trail.’

They said that the site crossed the Three Trouts Stream, earmarked for special conservation due to the recorded presence of an endangered population of salmonids.

The site is reserved in the Greystones Delgany Local Area Plan as part of the route for a proposed riverside park and green route.

It is also marked on council maps as prone to flooding, they said, ‘and therefore unsuitable for any kind of residential development or human habitation.’

Some trees have been felled and a hard standing has been installed, suitable for a portacabin unit.

A hole was dug beside the stream and a septic tank placed into it. An ESB connection has been procured.

A previously disused entrance to a ruined building known as The Band Hall has been enlarged, hedgerows have been removed and fencing installed along the road.

Permission has expired for 22 units in the same area.